Ep. 86: Lit It or Quit It: Heir by Sabaa Tahir

Dive into the mystical world of Sabaa Tahir's Heir with Amanda and Kelsey on Lit Vibes Only! They're breaking down the intricate characters, jaw-dropping twists, and the lore-heavy universe, all to decide if it's a Lit It or Quit It.

00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only

01:02 Follow Us on Socials

03:04 Our Current Reads

07:52 Summary of ‘Heir’

22:44 Book Discussion

38:44 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst

55:42 Wrap Up and Social Media Plugs

Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!

See you on Mondays!

Transcript

Kelsey 0:05

Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out of books we love and hate. I'm Kelsi, the unhinged diehard romantic and fantasy reader

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:14

And I'm Amanda, the insightful thrill seeker and historical fiction nerd. Welcome, welcome to our first June episode. We are so glad that you're with us, and hopefully are having a great start to your summer. I know it's technically not officially summer yet, but anyhow,

Kelsey 0:31

some

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:31

so glad you're here. I, I mean,

Kelsey 0:34

First,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:35

the official start, June 21st.

Kelsey 0:37

but like for some

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:38

the summer solstice.

Kelsey 0:40

like already in the Midwest,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:42

course, yeah. Absolutely.

Kelsey 0:44

they are definitely

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:44

Yeah.

Kelsey 0:46

break

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:47

my school does not end until... Students are done on June 10th,

Kelsey 0:51

Okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:52

done on the 12th, so

Kelsey 0:53

You're

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:54

still got a couple more weeks.

Kelsey 0:55

than me.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:57

Yes, one of the few perks of private schools, we usually get out before public schools. But anyhow, before we get into all of that we wanna direct you to our social. So if you're not already following us, we are on Instagram at litvibesonly_podcast, and then on both TikTok and YouTube at Lit Vibes Only Podcast. So if you're not already following us, head over there, do that like, comment, follow, subscribe. If you like to watch your podcast instead of listening to them, you can watch them full-length episodes on YouTube. We also both have Fable accounts, so you can join our Fable book clubs if you wanna read along with us for each of our Lit It or Quit It episodes. We've got the books up there. You can chat with us. You can make predictions. You don't have to currently be reading the book either. If you've read it previously and just wanna jump in the conversation, you absolutely can. We love to hear from you guys.

Kelsey 1:51

that's an extra perk.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 1:53

Yes, if you wanna vote on the upcoming Loaded or Quitted episodes, definitely join our book clubs, 'cause that's where that happens. We don't do those on our socials, so if you wanna have a say in what we read, make sure to follow us over there. And as always, if you have not yet rated or reviewed our podcast, we would really appreciate it if you could take two seconds and do that. It does a lot for us in bumping us up the ratings and helping with our visibility. And the other thing that really helps us is our download numbers. So if you haven't yet, as you're sitting there listening to this, hit that download button and make sure that this episode is downloaded on whatever device you're listening on. You don't have to keep it on your phone or your laptop or whatever. You can delete it after you've downloaded it, but those numbers really help us. And so we would love it if you could do all of those things. So yes, thank you in advance.

Kelsey 2:49

Keep us going.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 2:51

Yes, we absolutely need all of you and your support to keep this podcast steam, full steam ahead.

Kelsey 2:58

We're

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 2:58

yeah.

Kelsey 2:59

head, but still that's okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:03

Absolutely. So Kelsey, what are you currently reading?

Kelsey 3:08

at it. I was like, "What am I reading?" I'm still reading the romance novel by Alexis Daria.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:17

Okay

Kelsey 3:17

Along Came Amor.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:20

Of course it is.

Kelsey 3:21

like, "Gosh, it is time for Amanda to read another smutty book."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:26

Is it though? I'm quite fine over here. I'm really living my best life.

Kelsey 3:31

to you lately.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:33

We haven't gotten to this episode yet, so

Kelsey 3:35

I'm not that worried, but,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:39

Okay

Kelsey 3:41

it didn't have any smut in it

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:43

It didn't. It didn't. It was quite PG. I mean, it's a YA novel, so yeah. Okay,

Kelsey 3:49

What are you

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:50

so I'm currently reading, I'm listening to a thriller called Those Girls by Chevy Stevens. Actually just started it this morning, and so far so good. It's about these three sisters who have just killed their abusive father because he was, like, basically about to kill one of their sisters, and now they are on the run. And something else is going to happen and then it jumps forward 18 years. One of the sisters goes missing, and they have to go back and figure out what went wrong. It's set in Canada. It's up in the Vancouver area

Kelsey 4:24

They

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:24

it sounds like

Kelsey 4:25

in the 18 y- years forward or had

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:29

yeah, so it's, s- no, so the book starts in 1997 when they're, like, all teenagers, and then it's going to jump forward 18 years, and they're all, obviously grown adults. And then one of the sisters goes missing, and they have to figure out what's going on, and it's connected to their past. I haven't gotten to that point yet. It's still in the past, still 1997. So yeah, should be good. It's got four stars, which for a thriller is pretty phenomenal. People are pretty picky when it comes to ranking and rating thrillers. And so anytime I see a four-star thriller, I'm like, "Okay, I need to check this one out." And it's an author I haven't read before.

Kelsey 5:07

Okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:07

so far so good.

Kelsey 5:08

Where's the

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:09

Yeah. I don't. I've, and I've never read this author, so I don't know that much about them. I'm assuming they're Canadian, 'cause I, it's not often that American authors will deliberately set their books in Canada. So that's my assumption. But I don't know. I also don't know the gender of the author, because Chevy could be a guy. It also could be a girl. So I know very little about this person, but I'm enjoying their book so far.

Kelsey 5:31

Nice. So Amanda, wait, I think you have a question for me first, and then I have a question for you.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:39

I wanna know why you made me read it.

Kelsey 5:41

Yes. So this is Sabaa Tahir, right? gosh, because because I absolutely loved, Oh my gosh, what was the book called we both read?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:57

yes. All,

Kelsey 5:59

All My Rage.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:00

Rage. All My Rage

Kelsey 6:02

And I absolutely love that book and I just... I was like, "I need- I- I need to read this book. We need to read this book and go over it." Yeah, again, it was out of the white-centric book world. And so I was excited about that. Yeah, I just, It also was long, so I'm sorry. And Amanda had to

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:27

Yep, it was long.

Kelsey 6:28

a week,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:30

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 6:30

You're- you're a fast reader, though. You... And we're starting a new book today. Crazy.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:37

This is true. Mm-hmm. Okay.

Kelsey 6:40

all of

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:40

All right.

Kelsey 6:41

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:41

did you read or have you read An Ember in the Ashes? That series? Okay.

Kelsey 6:47

No

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:48

So just for a little context for readers, then you can ask me the question this book, and I didn't find out about this until after the fact,

Kelsey 6:55

Wait.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:55

in the same world as the An Ember in the Ashes series, that, that quartet, those four books, which I did not know, and it's set 20 years after, so it's like the next generation of characters. So just a little context for folks listening if you're not familiar with this author or this particular fantasy world. So now you have a question for me.

Kelsey 7:15

Amanda this a lit it or quit it for you?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:21

Yeah, so this book was a soft quit it for me. I really struggled with this book, and we will get into all of the details why. But I, yeah, as Kelsey said, I had a week to get through this book. It's about 500 pages, and it was painful. It, I was like, I could not wait to be done with this book.

Kelsey 7:41

so curious.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:43

yeah. So

Kelsey 7:44

Also,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:45

dive in. Yes

Kelsey 7:47

I always forget what happens in these books until you do the summary, and I'm like, "Oh, yeah."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:52

Speaking of the summary, I have two things to say.

Kelsey 7:55

gosh.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:56

One, this book is a bitch to summarize because not only is it very long, but it has multiple POVs, and within those multiple POVs, one of them is happening in the past. So there's also a time jump. So I actually, disclaimer, got a plot summary that I found online, like a pretty detailed one, and then I plugged it into, and I'm not a huge fan of using AI, but I was like, "Can you take this very lengthy, detailed summary and condense it into something shorter and more manageable?"

Kelsey 8:28

Fair.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 8:29

that is what it did. So I went through and added a couple things, deleted a couple of things. So this is gonna be a pretty brief summary because this book would literally take 45 minutes for me to summarize, and I truly did At the end of the book, there were still things that I did not understand.

Kelsey 8:45

Ah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 8:46

I hope that if you're listening, you are either familiar with this world or read the book along with us, because this is not gonna be super nitty-gritty and obviously we'll get into more details in the discussion. But just a little preface, disclaimer before I get into this. Okay. So first things first, as I said, this book follows primarily three characters, although there is a fourth character who has some of his own chapters near the end of the book.

Kelsey 9:14

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:14

And I read this, I didn't listen to it, and I know I'm gonna mispronounce words, so Kelsey, as always, you can jump in and correct my pronunciation if you remember.

Kelsey 9:24

Oh

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:26

I, there were so many names here, I'm like, I know I'm butchering this, and I don't know what else to do. Okay. So- The first character that we're introduced to is A's. She is this poor young woman who lives in the slums, essentially, of this country called Kagari. She is an orphan. She doesn't know who her dad is. Her mother was conscripted to fight essentially in these Kagari... The Kagari nation basically isn't able to produce its own food, so it gets all of its produce, food, items from other countries through raiding. And so her mother was conscripted to basically go on one of these raids. She was killed, so she's an orphan. One thing to know about A's is that she does have magic. Her magic is like wind magic, sh- wind smithing. She's not great at it.

Kelsey 10:20

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:21

And she has a best friend who she's also romantically interested in called Serro. So that's A's.

Kelsey 10:27

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:27

The second character that we're introduced to is the crown prince of the Marshals. He is the heir to the throne and will be emperor one day. He very much doesn't want to be emperor, and he too has magic. He's a mind smither, so he can like, get into people's heads and look at their memories, et cetera. But he keeps his magic hidden because in the Marshal world magic is I wouldn't say it's frowned upon, but yeah, he doesn't want people to know he has magic. And then the third person is Saorise. She is a Jaduna, so she's from this very powerful, magical tribe, and she has a connection to the elements, so earth, wind, and sea, and she can use her relationship with those different natural elements to track people. So she is a tracker, and it is her job to go out and find missing people, missing magical beings. The important thing to know about her is that she has been kicked out of her tribe. We don't really get a lot of the details, but from what I could tell is that she, it seems like inadvertently or accidentally murdered a bunch of people, like took out like an... wiped out like an entire village or something, and so she was kicked out. She has a really terrifying older sister called Rizwana, I think is her name, and she essentially hates Saorise, and they have a very contentious relationship, and she shows up in the book. So the book starts with A's. Like I said, she is living at... Is it A's?

Kelsey 11:59

I think that's what it is

Amanda 12:01

Okay Aies, and she is living with a group of... She lives at a cloister with this religious order of nuns essentially, who are all devoted to this religious figure called Mother Div. Mother Div is long gone. She's been gone for a thousand years, but she's the one who brought Aies' people from their homeland, which was destroyed, to this land that they're currently in. And there's this legend that one day Mother Div will return in the body of an individual, and that individual will become the Tel Alessi. So she essentially tries to assassinate the leader of their fleet. So they're known for these really cool devices called sails that are airborne, and they use those to carry out these ambushes and raids. He's a really cruel, awful person. She tries to kill him. His name's Tiral. She is unsuccessful in killing him, is ultimately imprisoned. But with the help of Sero, she is able to escape, and she happens to steal from Tiral this book that he carries with him everywhere. It seems to be just a book of children's stories. So she's not sure why it's important to him, but she knows it's important to him. So during her assassination attempt, she does steal that book, and that comes into play later. So in order to save her people, who are essentially starving, poor, miserable, she decides that she is going to find, the spirit of Mother Div, who has been imprisoned somewhere, and she's going to then use Mother Div's power to basically help her set her people free

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 13:43

In order to do that, she finds this... This story appears in this book that she has one day as she's reading it a story she hasn't seen before, and it talks about Mother Div and her being imprisoned somewhere. So she's like, "I'm gonna track down the author of this book." Her name is Leia of Saira. She lives on the northern continent. So she ends up tracking down Leia. She lies to her tribe, Leia's tribe, and says that she's from a different country,

Kelsey 14:12

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 14:13

In order to gain their trust, because she needs to figure out why Leia wrote this story what it means, how she can use it to find Mother Div. While she's living with this tribe, she also ends up meeting and growing close to the Crown Prince Quill. She doesn't realize he's the prince at first, but they form a romantic relationship. Ultimately, and again, I'm skipping so much stuff, but ultimately- Aiza's lies are uncovered. She is banished from the tribe. However, she's gotten enough information to know where Mother Div is, her- her spirit has been imprisoned.

Kelsey 14:49

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 14:50

she goes to find her. One of the little boys in the tribe, Lea's son, Ruh, I don't know if that's how you say his name. Ruh? Is it Ruh, R-U-H?

Kelsey 15:01

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 15:01

Ruh. He sees her leaving, and he's like, "Can I come with you?" And she's like, "Okay, fine." So they go together to free this, I gue- I don't know what what you would call Mother Div, a goddess or a entity. So she ends up freeing her, but what she doesn't realize is that Mother Div's spirit has been corrupted, and she's now essentially this horrible, bloodthirsty monster that requires human sacrifices in order to survive. And so she basically eats people's hearts, essentially.

Kelsey 15:31

not

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 15:31

And as soon...

Kelsey 15:32

Children

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 15:33

Yeah, children or anyone who's pure of heart.

Kelsey 15:36

Oh yeah,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 15:36

And so she ends up, as soon as they unleash her, essentially, she instantly kills Ruh. And she basically tells Aiza like, "I will give you all the power that you need to free your people as long as you allow me to feed, essentially and give me power that I can then channel to you." And she's like, "Okay I don't really feel great about murdering children, but I really need to set my people free, and this is the only way I can do it." So she makes this deal essentially with the devil, quote, unquote, right? So

Kelsey 16:07

just believes in Mother Div, like her to be a good entity rather than

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 16:14

Sh-

Kelsey 16:14

a corrupt one in this

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 16:16

But she knows right from the beginning, 'cause she talks about it when she's in the cave with Mother Div, that she's like, "Oh," "This is off." Mother Div, the Mother Div that I know wouldn't be,

Kelsey 16:26

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 16:26

wouldn't go around killing children. Something has shifted here. So she knows from the beginning it's wrong, and then that feeling intensifies the longer she works with her, but she keeps justifying these sacrifices. Like, "We'll sacrifice a few for the good of the many." So that happens, so that's all has happened a year in the past. Now we jump to the present, and we meet this magical tracker named Saoirse. She is a Jaduna, like I said. She's got a lot of magical powers. She is hired by Laia's husband, Elias, to hunt down this child-killing entity, who we know is Mother Div, but you don't know that at the beginning of the story. So she makes this pact to hunt her down. At around the same time, the Kagari forces launch an invasion on the Martial Empire and basically just decimate it. It's absolute chaos. Quill flees the country, the Martial Empire, along with his friend Sufyan and Aurelia, who's his cousin. And his aunt, who is the empress, is like, "Get out of here. You need to go find your good buddy, Tas." He's a spy for the empire, and "He can help you." As they're escaping, they cross paths with Saoirse, who's the magical tracker, and so they join forces. Not willingly, but they make do. Ultimately, again, I'm skipping so much stuff. Once they've joined forces Saoirse's like, My main goal, because I made this pact, is to track down this horrible child-eating entity." And Quill is like, "I need to get to Tas, this spy, and get the information that I need." Along the way, they originally were gonna split part ways, but Saoirse gets captured by her sister, Rizwana, and I think I'm saying that right. And is about to be killed by her sister. Quill basically sees what's happening. They're, like, in this town, and he sees that she's been captured. He basically saves her from execution by claiming that he and Saoirse are engaged. They end up getting locked into this magical Jaduna oath, and so now they're like each other's soul halves, essentially. And they're like, yeah, magically united, and they would have to break the oath in order for them to separate. Mm-hmm. And then basically all of this comes to a head because Mother Div is obviously stalking this group. She ends up murdering Saoirse's former mentor, Lolitemba.

Kelsey 18:56

Oh gosh, yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 18:56

so that's a really tragic scene.

Kelsey 18:58

in

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 18:59

They find- in front of her eats her heart. Ultimately, Saoirse and Quill- track Mother Div to the Kagari war camp. And Quill, it's like a huge twist, Quill realizes that the Kagari leader, the one who's been, like, leading this whole army that's decimated the empire, that is allowing this monster to eat children, is Aiaz. And he knew her as Illara, 'cause again, she lied when she met Leia and her family and her tribe. And he didn't realize they were one in the same. So he's devastated, he's heartbroken. She ends up imprisoning him and Saorise, but Cerro, who is Aiaz's friend, actually sets them free because he's like, "Look, I know Aiaz. She's actually a good person. She's been corrupted by Mother Div or whatever monster Mother Div now is, and I need you to kill the monster so I can have my friend back," essentially. So he actually works with them. Again, a bunch of other stuff happens. Ultimately, Quill and some of his allies are able to secure this rare magic-suppressing metal called ikfa, and they realize that if they put this metal, these chains, around Mother Div and Aiaz, they can suppress her magic long enough to kill her and destroy her. So ultimately, they do, through a whole series of events that I won't get into here. And Sufian stabs Mother Div the monster that is Mother Div in revenge because Rue was his little brother.

Kelsey 20:37

mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 20:37

And Saorise stops Mother Div by basically sacrificing her life, 'cause she realizes the only way to counter such evil is with sacrifice and with love, ugh, of course. And so what she doesn't realize is that the way that she killed Mother Div, she ended up binding herself to Mother Div. So just as Aiaz was bound to Mother Div, now essentially Saorise has replaced her. And so she wakes up in the aftermath of this final fight, and realizes that she is in this other realm called the Sea of Suffering or something along those lines. And she realized that yeah, she is now merged with Mother Div. And that is where this twisted tale ends.

Kelsey 21:23

And she's stuck there

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:25

And she's stuck there and yeah, so we're very much, It's very much a cliffhanger. There's, this is a duology, so you know, there's another book that will wrap things up. But yeah, that's it in a nutshell.

Kelsey 21:35

Yes. Good job.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:38

Thank you. I skipped so much.

Kelsey 21:40

was it really just a year before? I feel like it was

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:44

Yeah

Kelsey 21:44

'cause he was like 15, Quill

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:47

No, I double-checked when I was, like, prepping. It was just a year. Yeah. Yeah

Kelsey 21:52

guess that somewhat makes sense because she's trying to come to power and all of that within that time.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:58

Yeah.

Kelsey 21:59

yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:00

she has mother Div's power, she's able to accomplish a lot really quickly

Kelsey 22:03

Yeah. Ugh. I, okay, yeah, I remember the book now that you summarized it. I was like, "Okay,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:12

good.

Kelsey 22:13

this one." And I did like it. But I

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:17

And I did not.

Kelsey 22:19

will admit the very beginning, it was really hard for me to get into the very beginning, 'cause I had no idea what was going on, and it was like it felt choppy. And so took me many attempts to try to start from the beginning again and actually listen and know what's going on.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:38

Yeah, I concur.

Kelsey 22:41

we get into all of those details, what is it you liked about the book, Amanda?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:49

I think the bones of the story are good. And what I mean by that is if you strip away, like, all of the details and the, these particular names and tribes and magic and all that, and just look at the plot points of the book, they're interesting. There's some really good twists in there that I didn't see coming. The fact that Aies's story and timeline is happening a year prior, 'cause you're just assuming that all of these POVs are happening simultaneously, and so that was a big twist I didn't see. The fact that Cero turns on Aies at the end of the book and ends up helping Quill and Saoirse Essentially with their quest to kill Mother Div. I didn't see the twist coming with Laia being the first Dorani and the one who basically corrupted and imprisoned Mother Div. I didn't see all of those twists coming, and I found those really compelling. So I liked that. I liked, having this vengeful, understandably vengeful orphan who is looking out for her people and has just had such a rough upbringing and wants justice and a better life. And, a prince who doesn't really want to be emperor and is really struggling with his responsibilities, and this outcast tracker who has been shunned by her people. So the characters themselves, like their backstories, again, at a very simple level, I'm like, "Okay, I get it. I get what you were trying to do here." And I was glad, of course, there wasn't a whole lot of smut, as we mentioned, 'cause it was a YA book.

Kelsey 24:14

Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:14

great that the little sex scenes were brief and didn't mention a whole lot. There was, like, a a little nod to gender diversity. They mention this group of people called the Donai who live in the Martial Empire and are, like, neither male nor female, so I appreciated that little nod to diversity there. But honestly, I'm, like, looking at my notes and I'm like, "That was pretty much it." I don't have a lot of good things to say.

Kelsey 24:42

I really liked Saoirse's character probably the most out of all of

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:47

Okay.

Kelsey 24:48

out of the

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:48

Yeah, I would agree. I would agree

Kelsey 24:51

and I really enjoyed her backstory and her sister dynamic.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:57

Yeah,

Kelsey 24:57

Oh,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:57

sister was insane.

Kelsey 24:59

Yeah, she was. "I'm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:01

and

Kelsey 25:01

murder you."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:02

yeah, and she's been like basically violent towards her since they were kids,

Kelsey 25:06

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:06

and you realize that basically the source of her anger towards Sirsha is that Sirsha has better magic, stronger magic, and you find out later in the story that Rizwana is like losing the little bit of magic that she does have, so there's like a lot of bitterness and envy there. So like I, yeah, I, I, like I've said this a million times, I like badass female characters, and she definitely is that. Like Sirsha, she's a fighter, she is strong, she is a bit of a lone wolf. And she has a lot of sharp edges that ultimately get softened a little bit as she realizes "Oh, like I can be in community with people again," and like she forms a little found family with Quill and Sufyan and Aurelia. So I d- I, like I appreciated that. I, to what you said at the beginning of the episode, like it's nice to read another fantasy book that is, not just white characters in a white world, right? This is again incorporating mythology from the Middle East, which I liked. Although, which I know we're not talking about negatives, but I will say this since I already mentioned it, one of the notes that I wrote, where is it? I said, "Wait, there are fae and djinn and wights and warlocks? It seems like we're mixing different lore and mythology here." So I, like it was a lot. Like I think she tried to cram a whole lot into one book, I don't mind having a world full of diverse mythological and like fantastical creatures,

Kelsey 26:35

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:36

but it was a lot. It was a whole lot, and not all of them, to my understanding, are part of Persian mythology or Middle Eastern mythology, and so it was like a weird mashup of different lore and mythology, and I found it confusing. So

Kelsey 26:53

Yeah, I was curious about the origins of this Mother Div character. Did you look

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:59

Yeah.

Kelsey 27:00

all?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:01

You mean in terms of it having like bases in real

Kelsey 27:04

like mythology

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:05

Yeah.

Kelsey 27:06

or Persian

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:06

I didn't. It seems like it was something she created for the book, but

Kelsey 27:10

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:11

I, don't know. I know obviously she mentioned Jinn, which we know that was mentioned in the previous fantasy book that you had me read last month.

Kelsey 27:17

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:18

This Woven Kingdom. So like they were present in this book, but I don't know. It sounded like that whole religious order, that Mother Dip founded, was specific to like this fantasy world that Sabaa Tahir created. Yeah.

Kelsey 27:32

And also,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:32

I don't know

Kelsey 27:33

too th- the thing that I was trying to bring up with Aies is I feel like she had The start of her journey was she was being preyed upon by Mother Div because was in captivity at some point at the very beginning, and Mother Div came to her,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:54

Yeah

Kelsey 27:55

How she had this trajectory for her path, and how her story her adventure started

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 28:02

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 28:02

because Mother Div reached out to her. But I was always thinking that it wasn't gonna be Mother Div, it was gonna be someone else entirely. But I think it did turn out to be Mother Div, it's just Mother Div ended up corrupted

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 28:15

Yeah, that was again, but yeah, basically, th- this book was so confusing, but basically my understanding is that there's this tribe or group of storytellers But they're chaos storytellers because they tell stories that are false, that are lies, and so it basically warps or twists reality. It was very murky. And whatever story that Laia told in order to imprison Mother Div somehow corrupted her. And again, she's been in prison for, what? 1,000 years at this point. So yeah I, and again, I obviously the second book isn't out yet, but I am curious if there is some kernel of the real Mother Div somewhere in there, or if she's completely gone. And I feel bad because, so the two the nuns, Sister Noa and Sister Olness, I think, who basically raised Aihize and love her so much, especially Sister Noa they are such fervent followers and believers in Mother Div and the fact that she's gonna come back in the form of Telessy and take them back to their homeland. And then for them to realize that the Mother Div has actually turned into this corrupt monster who, who has then taken over this child that they love, Aihize,

Kelsey 29:27

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 29:27

how devastating.

Kelsey 29:29

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 29:29

What a blow to your faith, right? 'Cause that's what they've centered their whole life around. That's what gets them through,

Kelsey 29:34

Yes

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 29:35

Actually, she's a horrific monster now and eats the hearts of children. Which, actually, that just reminded me, there's a connection there between this Woven Kingdom because in this book you have a monster eating the hearts of children. In this Woven Kingdom, you have the king, who made this pact with the devil, basically,

Kelsey 29:52

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 29:53

eats the brains of children in order to maintain his immortality. So there, there is a, an interesting little link between both of these books.

Kelsey 30:02

Which maybe

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 30:03

Yeah.

Kelsey 30:04

in

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 30:05

Yeah. Persian mythology. Yeah. That would make sense.

Kelsey 30:09

Yeah,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 30:09

some sort of monster or entity that preys on children or people who are, like, yeah, pure of heart. Yeah, I just realized that. But yeah I, again, I, like I said I liked what she was trying to do with the book. I think the reason why I rated it so low and gave it two stars was because this book, and you touched on it already, there is so much happening and so much information. Like, I was, again, like you, in the first couple of chapters, and there are so many names and locations and tribes and magic, and I'm like, "Who are these people? How are they all connected?" Like, I wish this book had a map. I wish this book had some sort of like, family tree. Like, I am so... A glossary. Like, I am so lost, and I struggled throughout the entire book with that because- Even as you get deeper into the text, they're still introducing more and more information.

Kelsey 31:01

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 31:01

oh, like this person is a Ca- Karkan who is also a warlock, but she was... I'm just like, "Who the fuck are these people? And how am I supposed to keep track of all of them?" And then I come to find out, again, after I'd finished the book and did a bit of research like, oh, this is essentially a sequel to an earlier series. This is building off of a world that has already been established. And so I think she took for granted that a lot of her readers had already read the quartet from An Ember in the Ashes. Granted, these are standalone. You don't have to read them. But I was on TikTok earlier, on BookTok, and a lot of people were like, "Yes, you can read these books without reading An Ember in the Ashes." And also, it's so much easier to understand if you have, because she just starts, again, throwing in this entirely built, massive world, mult- multiple continents, the northern and the southern continent, these empires and tribes. And I'm like, I am so lost, and my brain hurt. And it was one of those fantasy book experiences where I was like, "Oh, this reminds me why I don't like fantasy," because there's too much happening, not enough explanation, and I'm spending 95% of this book just scratching my head, wondering what's going on and who these people are. So I can't enjoy it. I'm just like... I found it a very frustrating read. Very frustrating

Kelsey 32:26

like I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but if I don't know something or if something is confusing me, I just gloss over it, especially in fantasy. I'm like, I'd let it go. Some readers don't want to or don't like doing that, but that's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 32:41

Yeah

Kelsey 32:41

how I enjoy fantasy is like yeah, it's a detail that I'm not understanding right now. Maybe it'll make sense later, but it just

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 32:52

Oh my God, I can't do it. Especially 'cause in fantasy, and this, I think I'm thinking specifically about ACOTAR and that whole series if they're a good fantasy writer, those details do matter, right? They're gonna come back up. They're gonna be an Easter egg. They're gonna connect to something else later. I'm like,

Kelsey 33:05

but you

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 33:06

if I don't get it now

Kelsey 33:07

the Easter eggs to understand the ending, if that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 33:12

No. Okay, so maybe Easter egg was the wrong word, but sometimes those details are, like, foreshadowing or it does connect to something else. And if you miss it the first time, no, it's not gonna destroy your entire reading experience, but it's just a, yeah, a less informed reading experience. I don't. I'm like, if I read a book, I wanna fully get out of it what the author put into it for me to get out of it. And this book, because I had zero assistance in figuring it out, 'cause Sabaa Tahir was like, "Y'all read the first four. You already know this world. You know these characters," da, da, da, da, da, and she just jumps right in, and I'm like, "I'm so lost. I'm so lost

Kelsey 33:50

I didn't know that they were connected actually before reading this.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 33:54

Yeah.

Kelsey 33:55

there was like another series, but I haven't read those ones

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 33:59

I would that was my question when I was finished. I was like, oh, I wonder if Kelsey did read. I was like, I'll have to ask her, 'cause like

Kelsey 34:04

Nope.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:05

for me this was just too... And I think because it was also so long,

Kelsey 34:12

It was long

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:14

I wouldn't say the book was boring, but it did drag. I don't know if that makes sense. Things were happening pretty continuously,

Kelsey 34:21

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:22

it just felt like can we just, I don't know, get to it already? I don't know.

Kelsey 34:28

Get

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:28

just, I... And again, maybe 'cause I wasn't enjoying myself, I just wanted it to be over. But

Kelsey 34:33

Maybe, yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:34

It w- I would say for me, this was not an enjoyable reading experience. Some of the books you've had me read, like Fourth Wing even though I didn't like love, love that book, I was excited to get back to it when I put it down. I was like, oh, like what's gonna happen next? I was interested. And this book I distinctly remember coming home from work and being like, damn, I still have like 40% of that book to finish. Like, why is this so long? It felt like homework. It felt like I was like doing reading for English class back in high school, and it's oh, I've gotta get through the next five chapters before the next class. So yeah, I was very glad to be done with this book.

Kelsey 35:06

I see.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:07

Very glad.

Kelsey 35:08

Do you have anything else that you wanted to share about what you did not like about the book?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:13

I think, it just it did play into some of the similar tropes that I've mentioned before that I don't like. They make this whole point at the beginning where they're describing Iaes and she's "Oh, she's tiny and small-boned," and then you have the whole thing

Kelsey 35:27

being one of the love story

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:30

She she does 'cause she has that r- romance with the prince, but yeah, she's not the main love story. But the other thing too, which I've talked about many times with these fantasy books you had me read, is Saorise and Quill and Sufyan and Areli have just spent like a week on the road, right? Horseback, camping out, trying to get from one town to the next,

Kelsey 35:48

Yes

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:49

at this tavern one night. Mind you, no one's bathed in a week. And

Kelsey 35:54

And don't they

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:55

who is it? Qui- they they do, but this is before their bath. They're eating dinner, and Quill and Saorise are like down in like the dining room of this tavern. Rizwana comes in,

Kelsey 36:05

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:06

been stalking them, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, we have to make her think we're truly in love. Make her believe the fake engagement that we just did." So like they get all up on each other and start making out. And Quill is like, "Oh my gosh, yes, Saorise smells of like pine and sky." I'm like, dude, she is

Kelsey 36:21

There's no

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:22

okay? She has-- there's no way. I just, I hate when books do that. I'm like, human beings are naturally stinky. We just are. Our bodies produce odors. And all of these stupid romantasy and fantasy novels, everyone always smells like cedar and sandalwood and mint and icy pine trees, and I'm like, oh, this is so stupid. We all know they smell bad. You can just say that, and no one's gonna be like turned off.

Kelsey 36:47

But people will be turned on by the pine scent.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:51

no, because in their head they're gonna be like, "This is lies.

Kelsey 36:54

Oh, I don't, that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:57

I don't know.

Kelsey 36:57

my brain when I read it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:58

Yeah definitely. I guess I-- like if there was some mention of them using their magic to just make themselves smell good, I'm like, fine, okay, great. I can get on board with that. But yeah, I don't, I really don't have a lot to say about this book more than that because, again, I felt I spent so much of the book struggling to figure out what was going on, what was happening, and I'm sure I missed things too Probably could have commented on. But yeah, like I said, the bones of the story are good. I do think Sabaa Tahir is a strong writer. I still recommend that people go and read All My Rage 'cause it's amazing.

Kelsey 37:30

Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:31

I will not be reading the next book in this duology.

Kelsey 37:34

I will tell you all about it when it comes out.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:37

Great. Thank you. I'm like, I'll just find a summary somewhere.

Kelsey 37:41

another book that you wanted, you were like, "Maybe I'll read it," and, ugh, what was that book?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:46

it This Woven Kingdom was the one from last month?

Kelsey 37:49

Oh Yeah,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:50

Yeah. I was like, I might read it. I might. Maybe over the summer. We'll see. We shall see.

Kelsey 37:56

there's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:56

yeah

Kelsey 37:57

total books.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:58

You said the fifth one's coming out. Yeah. So we'll see. But yeah,

Kelsey 38:01

till next

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:02

my final recommendation for this book would be I I wouldn't recommend it. If you're a fantasy per- I would say if you're a fantasy person and you've read An Ember in the Ashes series and liked it, you will like this book it sounds like. But if you're just coming into this cold and you're not a fantasy reader, I don't think it's gonna be an enjoyable experience. I think you're gonna be frustrated

Kelsey 38:23

yeah, I definitely think that you have to be a seasoned fantasy reader to enjoy this one, Rather than this is a, "Oh, you wanna start fantasy? Start here."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:35

Yeah, this is not a starter book for new fantasy readers. Not at all. It's a lot. But yeah that's really all I have to say. So we should see what other people have to say about this book.

Kelsey 38:49

I'm curious to

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:50

and

Kelsey 38:50

about the one stars.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:53

You know what's really interesting? You're gonna love this.

Kelsey 38:56

There were

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:57

when I went to look at the one-star reviews, so this book has, tens of thousands of reviews. Were only 169, 169 one-star reviews, which is insane. Usually it's at least like, 2,000 or 3,000. So people love this book. I, it was slim pickings, finding one-star reviews, so I will say that. But yeah, these are all from Goodreads, so I'll have one-star. Kelsey will have five-star. And I will jump right in with my first one

Kelsey 39:27

here has the same thoughts as you

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:31

So almost everyone across the board, and you'll see this in the reviews, their main complaint was, "What the hell is going on? This is so confusing. I don't understand. This is too much. DNF." So I was like, "Okay, it's not just me. I'm not crazy."

Kelsey 39:45

Okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:45

the other people, yeah, had this thought. Okay, so my first one-star review is from Sarah Anne. "I feel terrible having to give this book one star because I had such high expectations for this. Sure, it was packed with adventure, but I seldom ever knew what was going on. Things happened too quickly. I did not know this was an extension of the author's other series, and since I haven't read those, I was so lost in the terminology. I wish the synopsis stated that this is 20 years later and should be read after the series. I know some people said you don't have to read the other series, but the author uses so many terms she doesn't state the meaning of, because clearly readers should know these from before, that I was constantly confused. Maybe someday I will read her other series and reread this one, but for now I am disappointed." Yeah. She summed up my thoughts perfectly. She would just drop things in there and expect you to know and understand, and I'm like, "I don't know or understand." So

Kelsey 40:48

My my first one comes from Bethany so good. is an amazing storyteller, but she does not pull her punches and may very well make you cry. Heir returns to the world of An Ember In the Ashes, but following a new generation of characters in a wider world. It has strong romantic elements and weaves together the stories of three characters and a new evil in the world. One of the characters is Helene's nephew and the heir to the throne." which must have been... Oh, so you get you get Helene's story in the first set.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:28

Yeah, and Leia and Elias.

Kelsey 41:31

And

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:31

Yeah

Kelsey 41:32

"Great world building and character development, solid pacing, and an ending that makes you want book two ASAP." I concur with that. "I will say I saw a revelation coming a while before it became entirely clear, but I think that's intended. Really enjoyed this and do recommend it. Also, you can read it even if you haven't read the previous series.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:57

Nope

Kelsey 41:57

a good place to jump in. I received a copy of this book from the publishers," blah, blah, blah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:04

No.

Kelsey 42:05

though.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:05

No, It is not a good place to jump in. It isn't, 'cause

Kelsey 42:09

on its

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:09

also I found out that if you read this book before An Ember in the Ashes, like obviously there are spoilers in this book, 'cause you find out what happens to certain characters. So yeah, don't... No, don't read this book first. If you're gonna commit to the bit, go back to the beginning, just read the whole thing through.

Kelsey 42:26

When does the second book come out? It's fairly r- soon.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:29

In the fall, September I think you said, I don't know. Maybe not. No, maybe that was for This Woven Kingdom.

Kelsey 42:34

is September next

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:36

Yeah.

Kelsey 42:37

and the,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:37

Oh, okay

Kelsey 42:39

there are a lot of books coming out this fall that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:42

There are.

Kelsey 42:42

for. Yeah. Oh my God, I'm gonna die. But yeah. So I did enjoy it without

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:50

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 42:50

having read the other books, but I am totally gonna go back and read the other books

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:54

Okay.

Kelsey 42:55

the second one.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:55

enjoy. Enjoy.

Kelsey 42:56

you all about it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:57

I am so excited. Okay second one-star review from Valerie Benitez: "I feel so disappointed that this book didn't turn out to be a new favorite of mine. I had such high hopes thinking that this would be up my alley. Unfortunately, I was not aware that this book is part of an existing series. It is supposed to be, it is supposed to be in the same universe, but read on its own. I had a hard time getting into this story because it was very lore heavy, and it doesn't do a good job, in my opinion, of breaking it down or explaining. This left me to be confused for most of the book, trying to play catch-up. I was also led to believe that there would be romance, but there was so little that it almost felt nonexistent. I hope that many others who have read the other books will enjoy and understand this story better than I did. I am considering reading those books and hoping that they will change my opinion." Yeah, I would definitely say if you're, if... They're open, and I would say this book is, if you're going into this book thinking it's gonna be, like, more of a romantasy, you will be disappointed because romance is not at the core of this plot by any means. It's there in small doses, but it's not essential to the main plot

Kelsey 44:15

I agree. And that's what I lo- I forget that I love that about fantasy. Fantasy for this reason. like this, s- world building and the character development, the stories of each character, like if it's well done, fantasy does that really well. But,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:33

Yeah, I agree

Kelsey 44:34

side note, Amanda, I don't know if you

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:36

Okay

Kelsey 44:37

but I... thinking of fantasy and Staci McEwen's book

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:43

Oh, the new one? Yes.

Kelsey 44:44

because I

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:45

Yes

Kelsey 44:45

she was, like promoting Third Place Books, I don't know if you saw recently, like here

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:51

I

Kelsey 44:51

Seattle, and I was like, I went to the website, and it wasn't, like saying anything about her coming. They were just, like selling the books.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:01

Yeah

Kelsey 45:02

but on that post, I messaged her, and I was like in all caps or something like that, I was like, "Don't tease us. Are you coming to Seattle or not?" And then she said, Yes,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:13

Oh,

Kelsey 45:14

she

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:14

wait

Kelsey 45:15

in our messages.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:18

Oh my gosh, if she's coming, it's gonna be sold out in two seconds, standing room only

Kelsey 45:22

have to see when that is

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:24

get on that.

Kelsey 45:25

it's not in July. I don't want it to be In

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:27

I know. The book comes out...

Kelsey 45:31

July

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:31

it come out in... Oh, then it might be July. Okay. Yeah

Kelsey 45:36

but she's doing a bunch of things in Australia, so maybe it's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:40

Okay.

Kelsey 45:41

I don't know.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:42

Oh, maybe it would make sense for her to start her tour there 'cause she's Australian. Okay. All right.

Kelsey 45:47

thinking of

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:48

exciting. I'm still sad she never sent us the ARCs that we were promised. I'm still a bit bitter about that, but it's okay.

Kelsey 45:56

sad about that too, but we will eventually read the book,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:01

We will, and we will cover it on the podcast, so get excited for that, y'all.

Kelsey 46:05

Okay, is it my turn? Think it's my turn.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:07

Is it? Oh, it is your turn, 'cause yeah, you just... Yes. Yes. I'm like, wait, you just mentioned... Yes, tangent. Okay

Kelsey 46:14

My second one is from Sue Miz Was that ending? Wow. To hear in one book gave a crash course in how you fright an engaging upper YA fantasy, and the key words here are YA and fantasy. No overly descriptive paragraphs that go on and on to the limit of boredom. No stretched plot and then, boom, the last 50 to 100 pages hold all the action. The last 100 pages are packed, but engagement is from page one. Characters that are well-rounded, flawed, and somewhat relatable, and engaging world building, where the reader has a part in piecing the puzzles No pieces were missing, though set in the a- the... It, this is such a difficult thing for me to say for some reason, Ember in the Ashes series,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:13

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 47:14

and I have not read that one yet. Ooh.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:17

Oh, okay. Interesting. Interesting

Kelsey 47:20

by the kingdoms and characters, a damn hot romance, Quill is my new book boyfriend, emoji, like

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:28

Oh my gosh

Kelsey 47:29

eyes five different times,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:32

Oh my goodness

Kelsey 47:33

twists that were really mind-blowing and served the narrative- narrative, there to be there... What am I reading? Not there to

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:43

I don't know.

Kelsey 47:43

for effect. Okay. I,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:47

Okay, I

Kelsey 47:47

agree with that though, because it, I thought it was well done. I thought the mystery and the uncovering of the twists and turns was

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:57

Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, I definitely thought, like I said earlier, I think the twists were good. They definitely got me.

Kelsey 48:02

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:03

You had to wait for them, but they were good when they landed. Okay. It is interesting that someone, yeah, who didn't read the prior series and gave it five stars and really liked it, so That's, telling.

Kelsey 48:14

be me too.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:16

Yes, that is true. Okay another one star. This is from just M. "Not so funny story. Years ago, I gave up on An Ember in the Ashes quartet," also written by this author, "on the third book. I loved the author's writing, and the world showed so much promise, but the plot and characters unraveled to the point of agony. I decided to reach out for an ARC of her new book, Heir, hoping with everything in me that this book would be the comeback book that made everything better again. Wrong. Imagine my brain having a trauma flashback when the same characters were in this book or mentioned. I said, 'Nope, she did not try to build off her other book. Please, no, please be original.' She wasn't. This is a continuation of An Ember in the Ashes. This book is set about 20 years later. I fought through until the end because I had to give this author a shot to prove me wrong, but I was so disappointed. This book had the exact same plot holes and needless YA tropes that made her last series a DNF for me. On the other hand, I am thankful I even read one book of the last series or absolutely nothing would've made sense. She jumped straight into the world with no explanation. Overall, the verdict is a big flop. So much for being a big book of the year. Sigh. Hoping this doesn't put me into a reading slump."

Kelsey 49:37

How dramatic.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:38

I agree. She does just throw you right in there from the beginning with no context, no explanation, and you're just scrambling for understanding.

Kelsey 49:47

is

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:47

It's, yeah.

Kelsey 49:49

S- the way that the book started, I was like,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:51

yeah, it's so confusing

Kelsey 49:53

then when I got into it

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:56

Okay. I didn't.

Kelsey 49:58

Wah, wah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:59

I stayed out of it.

Kelsey 50:01

Okay, this one is very short from Callie. "All

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:06

Okay

Kelsey 50:08

If Saba Tahir has no fans, I am dead." That's it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:13

Oh, is that it?

Kelsey 50:14

That's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:14

Oh,

Kelsey 50:16

Very short and sweet

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:17

I like I said, I'm a fan because of All My Rage. I would definitely read more of her contemporary fiction. I don't know that I would read more fantasy

Kelsey 50:26

she currently have any? I feel like All My Rage is the only

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:32

I think it is her only one.

Kelsey 50:33

right now. Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:34

I think all of the rest of her stuff is

Kelsey 50:36

Fantasy

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:37

sadly. Okay, last one-star review from David Schumacher. "I read Air because I enjoyed An Ember in the Ashes. Got to say, Air was not good. I finished it, but came close to putting it down a number of times. It was a relief to get done and be able to read something else." Amen. "Why I did not like Air. One, I never got to know or care about any of the characters. Two, the writing felt rushed. Three, the repeated Twilight-type scenes where a character's life is in grave danger but they have time to admire so-and-so's sexy jawline got old real quick. Needless to say, not reading the sequel."

Kelsey 51:19

Don't remember that.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 51:20

I don't, remember that. They do come close to death, but I don't remember them gazing into each other's eyes when it's happening. But yeah, I was so relieved to be done with this book as well. So yes, David, I agree with you.

Kelsey 51:33

Oh my gosh. since what? There was something I got excited about maybe one of these reviews or something. Ever since then,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 51:42

Okay

Kelsey 51:43

has been like, bleh, moving

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 51:45

Oh. They're excited too.

Kelsey 51:50

So recently we had a 32-week scan, and we found out baby's head is down, and then, I always feel them on my left upper side, and I

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:00

Okay

Kelsey 52:01

that what is there is their booty. That

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:05

Oh,

Kelsey 52:05

what

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:06

okay.

Kelsey 52:07

moving. So I find that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:10

just

Kelsey 52:10

hilarious.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:11

in there twerking away.

Kelsey 52:14

I find that so cute. Oh my God.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:15

That is funny. Oh my goodness

Kelsey 52:18

so they're excited for something. I don't know. My last one is from Lauren. There's a lot of caps, uppercase. Um The love, does Saba keep getting better with every book? Air is nothing short of magic. Ember..." I hate this title. "The Ember in the Ashes quartet walked so Air could fricking run, and

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:49

Oh my God

Kelsey 52:49

does. This story takes us across desert sands, the high seas, to the deepest of jungles and crumbling courts. three POVs in this book were all equally important and crafted with the utmost care and finesse. Quill, a tortured prince, Saisha, an outcast assassin, Eris, a wayward orphan. If you haven't read the previous books, you will settle into this story effortlessly.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 53:20

No.

Kelsey 53:21

the setting, the

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 53:22

Lies

Kelsey 53:23

and the old characters felt like coming home, and this is a world that has deeply settled in my bones. The new characters are just as emotionally impactful and exciting, but seeing the old ones made me giddy. The pacing never let up, and "i was left breathless," on multiple occasions. The romance built in a natural way, and I couldn't get enough of it. With a new evil on the rise, this book always felt fresh, and I just love the way Saba makes love characters one moment and hate them the next. The characters have ample depth, and the themes of how far one would go to save your people, no matter the cost, are strong. Perfection. A book I could have immediately flipped to page one and read again. Please-" Read An Ember in the Ashes quartet before this one. For me, this is no way. But they also

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:23

Yeah. You could also read it effortlessly without it. There seems to be a little confusion there. Is it okay without it? Do you need to read it? I... Look, I would say you need to read it, y'all. I know Kelsey would disagree

Kelsey 54:38

maybe it just enhances the reading experience.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:41

I think it would enhance it, yeah, 'cause you have, like, all that background and context, so you can just seamlessly slip back into that world. But God I'm glad it's, I'm glad it's done. And I get to read books that I actually want to read now,

Kelsey 54:56

You'll have another one soon.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:59

Yes, but hopefully it'll be something that

Kelsey 55:01

smuddy.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:04

No, God, no, I can't. Ugh. It has been a minute since I guess I've read,

Kelsey 55:10

it has, Amanda

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:12

Although, no, actually, technically it hasn't, because

Kelsey 55:16

something? What

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:16

read On My Own and Now Back to You, which is a romance, and that was super cute. No, but to think that I have read one, yeah, of course.

Kelsey 55:26

Oh

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:26

Crazy, but there's definitely smutty scenes in it, 'cause it's an adult romance novel.

Kelsey 55:30

And that was the second to...

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:33

For the Heartstrings series. Yeah, from a first-time caller. So anyhow, I've talked about it a lot on our socials. You should totally go check out my reviews on both of those books. But Kelsey, where can they find us on socials?

Kelsey 55:44

You can find us everywhere, you guys. You can find us on Instagram at livevibesonly_podcast, and on YouTube and TikTok at livevibesonlypodcast. And at Fable, you can find our

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:01

Yes.

Kelsey 56:02

That are livevibesonlypod-amanda or -kelsey. And you can join both or one of the book clubs. And you get to vote the upcoming episodes and what we highlight. So go do that. We're on all major podcasting platforms, but highly focus in on Apple and Spotify. so you can go ahead and rate in both of those places, you can only review in Apple, and in Spotify you can leave a comment on episodes. But all of those things help us with visibility and you can also download the episode,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:45

Yes,

Kelsey 56:46

really helps us. Apparently, that's the only monitor they have for, or measure to increase what we can do with the podcast essentially through Buzzsprout that we use to upload episodes. go do all those things.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 57:02

please. Yes. Go do your homework, and we thank you in advance for all of your support. And yeah, we'll see you guys next time.

Kelsey 57:11

Bye

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 57:12

Bye.